Archive for February 13th, 2007

Nano trademarked (without the iPod prefix)

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

Apple trademarked the term “Nano” by itself, apart from the phrase “iPod Nano“, for which it holds a separate trademark. The goods and services listed are: Computer hardware; Computer software to control and improve computer and audio equipment sound quality; Computer software for the storage, reproduction, transmission and editing of sound, data, and text; computer peripherals; digital audio players and recorders; loudspeakers and manuals distributed therewith.

This by itself is not really all that interesting. What is interesting is that Apple received rights in “Nano” by way of an assignment from Creative.

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Securing and controlling access to digital data

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

Title:  Securing and controlling access to digital data

Patent application publication number:  20070030963

Publication date:  February 8, 2007

Filing date:  August 4, 2005

Link to PDF:    (23 pages)

AIPW Summary:  This application relates to the security code lock on an iPod (see Figure 7B). In general, content is locked and can be unlocked using any movement-detecting input means (e.g., joystick, touch pad, keyboard) that permits a user to enter a security code.

Posted in Miscellaneous Apple-related software patents, Published Apple patent applications | No Comments »

Managing permissions data and/or indexes

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

Title:  Methods and systems for managing permissions data and/or indexes

Patent application publication number:  20070033191

Publication date:  February 8, 2007

Filing date:  August 4, 2006 (priority to June 25, 2004)

Link to PDF:    (117 pages)

AIPW Summary:  This application relates to searching and indexing data (i.e., the Spotlight search feature), including file contents and metadata. An index can be partitioned into multiple sub-indexes, based on a variety of criteria. In one embodiment, a user may be permitted to search sub-indexes even if the user does not have permission to access the underlying data. In another embodiment, the user is restricted to searching indexes for which they can access the underlying data. Metadata captured from various application programs can be used to facilitate the searching.

Note: The size of this application is due to the fact that there are 84 pages of drawings.

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